I have just started looking into buying a memory foam mattress online to save money. I’ve read good reviews about these beds, but the price difference is pretty big. (plus Dynasty includes some extras like gel pillows)
I am looking for a bed that has a medium firm/soft feel. (I don’t want to feel like I’m sinking in)
Any advice on these two beds?
Hi jmarkk1,
The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses.
The most important part of the “value” of a mattress purchase is the suitability of a mattress in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) because if a mattress isn’t a good match for you and you don’t sleep well on it then it would have little value to you regardless of the price. When you are buying a mattress online that you can’t test in person to make sure that it’s a suitable choice for you then one of the most important parts of a successful purchase is a more detailed conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that sells it and that has your best interests at heart that will provide you with some good guidance (rather than just selling you any mattress you are willing to buy from them) so that you have a better chance of making a choice that you will sleep well on.
The Dreamfoam mattress is also described as being similar to the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme in terms of comfort and support so you can test a local mattress to get a better sense of whether it would be suitable for you while the Dynasty mattress doesn’t list another mattress that is comparable that you can test locally.
If you aren’t confident that a mattress will be a good “match” for you then the exchange or return policies will play a much more important role in the “value” of a purchase so that if the mattress you buy doesn’t work out as well as you hoped for that you still have good options available to exchange or return it. The return costs with the Dynasty could be very costly because once the mattress has decompressed you would need to return it with a common carrier (not a courier) which can be very costly and you would be responsible for the shipping costs.
If you purchase the Dreamfoam mattress from the Dreamfoam site (rather than Amazon) then you would have an additional 10% discount and you would also have the benefit of their 45 day comfort guarantee (the return cost is only $99 including return shipping).
Medium firm and soft are both very different comfort levels so a mattress would either be one or the other. There are also no standardized firmness ratings between manufacturers so a mattress that is rated as “medium firm” with one manufacturer may be rated as a “medium” or a “firm” by another manufacturer. Firmness is also very subjective and relative to each person so what feels too soft for one person can feel too firm for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping positions, and preferences and sensitivities. The only way to know how firm or soft a mattress feels for you would be based on your own personal testing or sleeping experience regardless of how anyone else may rate it. Only you can feel what you feel on a mattress (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
Outside of PPP … a mattress is only as good in terms of durability as its construction and the quality of the materials inside it (see this article). The Dreamfoam mattress uses 4 lb memory foam and a 1.5 lb base layer and for most people that aren’t in a higher weight range (more than the low 200’s or so) it wouldn’t have any weak links in the design and would be good quality/value relative to its price range.
The Dynasty doesn’t include the density of the foams that it uses in the Amazon description so I would make sure you find out the density of all the layers before considering it (see this article)
The Dynasty is also made in China which means that the quality/durability of the materials are more uncertain than materials that are made in North America (such as the Dreamfoam) and it’s durability could also be affected by any fillers that are used in the foam or how long the mattress was compressed during shipping and storage (see post #6 here).
You can read more about Dynasty in posts #3 and #4 here and a forum search on dynasty (you can just click the link) will bring up more information and feedback about them as well.
Dreamfoam is one of the members of this site which means that I think very highly of them and I believe they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, and transparency.
The “bottom line” is that IMO the Dynasty would be a much more “risky” choice than the Dreamfoam both in terms of suitability and durability and the options you would have after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for.
Phoenix
I was online with Dream foam and they recommended their 12" vs 13" would this be best thickness?
I’m about 250lbs. and a side sleeper.
As far as comfort, I like the icomfort efx series (not sure on which one)
Are there any other beds worth looking at?
Hi jmarkk1,
The thickness of a mattress isn’t nearly as important as the design of the mattress and the combination of materials that are inside it. There is also more about the most effective ways to choose a mattress (either online or locally) in post #2 here that can help you identify and minimize the risks involved with each of them but when you can’t test a mattress in person then the most reliable source of guidance will always be a knowledgeable and experienced manufacturer who can help "
talk you through" the different options they have available and will know much more about “matching” their different mattresses to different body type and sleeping styles than anyone else (including me).
Unfortunately this isn’t specific enough to be useful as a reference point for the type of mattress that you may do best with and Serta isn’t transparent about the quality of all the materials in most of their mattresses (see this article) and I would tend to avoid any of the mattresses made by the major manufacturers anyway (see the guidelines here). I don’t know of another manufacturer that makes a mattress that is specifically designed to be similar to any of the iComfort mattresses so the only way to compare another mattress to the one you liked would be a more subjective comparison based on your own personal testing and experience.
The mattress shopping tutorial includes two links to lists of the better online options I’m aware of (in the optional online step) and if you are in a lower budget range then post #3 here and the posts it links to includes some of the better lower budget online options I’m aware of as well.
If you let me know your city or zip code I’d also be happy to let you know about any of the better local options or possibilities I’m aware of.
There are also some guidelines in post #3 here and the posts it links to that will be helpful for those that are in higher weight ranges and with your weight I would also consider mattresses with higher quality/density materials if you are comfortable with a higher budget range or with different materials other than memory foam.
Phoenix
[quote=“jmarkk1” post=47677]I have just started looking into buying a memory foam mattress online to save money. I’ve read good reviews about these beds, but the price difference is pretty big. (plus Dynasty includes some extras like gel pillows)
I am looking for a bed that has a medium firm/soft feel. (I don’t want to feel like I’m sinking in)
Any advice on these two beds?[/quote]
Just curious if you ended up purchasing the Dream Foam. If so, do you like it? I’m looking at their 13" gel foam model.
I haven’t purchased it yet. Why are you looking at 13 in. Gel foam?
I ordered the Supreme 12", came in about 2 weeks ago, but was waiting on new carpet. I unboxed it, and unfortunately it’s only about 73 inches wide as opposed to a King which is 76 inches wide. I have a call in for Chuck, but haven’t heard back. This won’t work, sheets won’t fit, etc. As far as the feel of the mattress - I absolutely LOVE it. I’m about 270, mostly side sleeper, but sometime wake up almost on stomach. No problems so far with this mattress. I’d had two other temper “knock offs”, which were OK, but this one is by far my favorite - IF they can get the correct size mattress.
Anyone else had this problem?? I could deal with it if it were only an inch or so too narrow, but 3 inches just won’t work!!! :ohmy:
Chuck advised against the 13" gel form, since I didn’t want too soft, and also I’m 6’6, and 270.
[quote=“jmarkk1” post=47728]I was online with Dream foam and they recommended their 12" vs 13" would this be best thickness?
I’m about 250lbs. and a side sleeper.
As far as comfort, I like the icomfort efx series (not sure on which one)
Are there any other beds worth looking at?[/quote]
Sup.
I purchased the 13" Dynasty Gel Mattress from Amazon.com. Here’s what you need to know.
The “gel memory foam” is very fast responding, so much so I don’t even consider it a memory foam. The whole point of memory foam is that it holds a “memory” of where you laid, and it holds that impression and conforms around you. You know those hand print pictures you seem online? That will NOT occur with Dynasty Mattress.
My mattress only came up to 11" instead of the 13", now this is probably not something that happens to everyone, but it happened to me. I no longer have this mattress.
The cover is fucking beautiful and so are the free pillows. This is the ONLY upside to the mattress that I have found, the gorgeous cover. Oh and the free pillows are the bomb. They feel like pure gel pillows, I don’t think there’s any foam in them, but they are damn amazing. This forum has linked Dynasty to King Koil mattresses at some point-- I remember reading this-- and I think it’s true, because when I was in a mattress store the other day, King Koil used the same pillows that I got for free from my Dynasty Mattress. The pillows I actually like and I use them, but I do NOT use them with the white designed cover they come with. That cover takes away ALOT of the feel of the pillows, so I use those pillow covers as shams for garbage pillows that I don’t even use. So the mattress I got was a terrible piece of junk, even if it was 13" it would still have been a piece of junk. It had no support, my layers were soft from the top to the bottom, and the top did not feel at all like memory foam. I cut my mattress open, and I dissected all the layers. I’ve owned MANY memory foam toppers, I would never consider using either of the memory foam layers in my Dynasty Mattress. I gave both layers of memory foam away, and I’m currently use the egg crate portion of the mattress as a support base for my current temporary sleep system until my latex layers get here. The mattress cover by the way, although it’s rather beautiful to look it, it bumpy designs stick out and effect the feel of the mattress too much for my taste so I don’t use it anymore, but I’m rather sensitive to things like that. I want to be as close as possible to my foam. I still have the 13" cover from my Dynasty Mattress and it’s as good as ever… Email me if anyone wants the cover for some reason [email protected] Aside from the pillow, it’s pretty much the only thing worth anything in that entire mattress. When i dissected the mattress I could NOT believe what I had bought. A garbage gel topper, on top of a garbage memory 2" memory foam topper, 4" of egg grate foam (can buy at walmart for $10), and then a 4" of “support foam” that was way too soft to be support form. I threw that away.
Hi TLNTX,
Their standard king size is 75" x 80" and a “normal” dimensional tolerance is about 1" so 3" would be a little more than a “normal” variance (see post #16 here).
I’m not sure how long the mattress has been decompressed but it’s possible that it will regain a little more width over the course of the first few days … especially if it was compressed for a few weeks.
I would also make sure that you are measuring from the widest part of the side panel on one side to the widest part of the side panel on the other rather than from the top corner to the top corner because with a new mattress the tightness of the cover can pull the corners in to some degree.
Other than that I would talk with Dreamfoam to see what they suggest as well (and hopefully let us know what they say).
Phoenix
You know what, I actually owned the 12" Aria from Dreamfoam Bedding too… got it from Amazon.
It’s really a pretty good mattress. Looking back I think my issues were more related to the ambient temperature in my room and the plateform bed I was using which caused me to return it. It was an okay bed, but I personally like a firmer memory foam feel which is why I’m into the Primecut topper from ebay…It has a 15ild and is firmer than the other toppers I’ve tried. Tempurpedic is pretty firm too which I like. Dremafoam is a safe bet for people who like softer memory foam mattresses. It is likely that you will love their 12 or 13" mattress if you like softer memory foam beds that is. If you find it on Amazon and fulfilled from Amazon then it can’t hurt to try it because Amazon has free returns on virtually every order they fulfill. . I’m not sure how they would work it out with you though, because I had to pay for my return which Chuck arranged to have someone pick it up for me.
Hi EZ4HZ,
Just for clarification … mattress returns with Amazon fulfillment (once the packaging is opened) go through their large items return policy and aren’t free (see post #11 here).
There is also more information in post #2 here about the different ways to buy the Dreamfoam mattresses and the cost and return policies for each of them.
Phoenix